Industry initiative targets the development of a network of hydrogen refueling stations for fuel cell electric vehicles in Germany

Trade News

Munich, 21 December 2012- Building up a refueling station network for fuel cell electric vehicles is taking on a concrete form. The current partners in the H2 Mobility initiative (Air Liquide, Daimler, Linde, OMV, Shell, and Total) are working on implementing a business model to build up a nationwide hydrogen refueling station network in Germany.

The objective of this initiative is to prepare for the planned series launch of fuel cell electric vehicles and build up a hydrogen refueling station network infrastructure. In September 2009, the cross-industry H2 Mobility initiative already joined forces to develop scenarios to build up a hydrogen supply infrastructure in Germany within the scope of a study. Based on this study, H2 Mobility assessed the probable success of potentially building up this infrastructure and developed various business models along with an implementation road map in a second phase in 2011. Beyond the six partners, seven associated partners from the automotive industry (BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Intelligent Energy, Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen) as well as the National Organization of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NOW) as interface to Germany's federal government are also involved.

In the currently launched third phase of preparations initiative partners are negotiating the foundation of a joint corporate entity to implement the business model and invest in building up the infrastructure.

About The Linde Group The Linde Group is a world-leading gases and engineering company with around 62,000 employees in more than 100 countries worldwide. In the 2011 financial year, Linde generated revenue of EUR 13.787 bn. The strategy of the Group is geared towards long-term profitable growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment – in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. The Group is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.

Under the "Clean Technology by Linde" label, the company offers a wide range of products and technologies that help to render renewable energy sources financially viable, and significantly slow down the depletion of fossil resources or reduce the level of CO2 emitted. This ranges from specialty gases for solar module manufacturing, industrial-scale CO2 separation and application technologies to alternative fuels and energy carriers such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen.